Kyle MacLachlan, who voices the Dung Beetle, starred in Dune (1984), and this episode is a spoof of the Dune books.
The worm leader at one point calls himself the God Emperor of Dung, which is a reference to the 4th Dune novel "God Emperor of Dune".
The episode continues the running gag of Leela being surprised Nibbler can talk by exclaiming "Nibbler! You can talk!"
In Parasites Lost (2001) Fry also had a bad case of parasitic worms once that infected his brain, although they had the opposite effect of the worms Nibbler has. The worms Fry was infected with began improving his body for their own benefit, including restructuring the neurons in his brain, which increased Fry's intelligence by a great deal.